Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly moving to gut billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s budget, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote to senior Pentagon leadership Tuesday that he wanted an 8% reduction in the defense budget in each of the next five years, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. Hegseth directed leaders to deliver a plan for the budget cuts by Feb. 24, citing wasteful spending and “bureaucracy” as part of the reasons for the cuts.
The move comes as the defense budget has ballooned to $850 billion, according to the DOD.
“President Trump’s charge to DOD is clear: achieve Peace through Strength,” Hegseth reportedly said in the memo. “The time for preparation is over — we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence. Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”
The memo stipulated that 17 projects are exempt from the cuts, including southern border operations, nuclear weapons and missile defense upgrades and acquisition of drones as well as other munitions, according to The Washington Post. The memo stresses the continued funding for various overseas command facilities, with the notable exceptions of the European Command, Central Command in the Middle East and Africa Command.
The move comes in the light of Trump’s crusade against unnecessary government spending, creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with the help of tech CEO and presidential advisor Elon Musk to tackle the issue specifically. DOGE officers have reportedly been into the Pentagon, obtaining a list of probationary employees Wednesday presumably to begin layoffs. Officials from DOGE claim to have already saved an estimated $55 billion in federal spending.
With DOGE’s help, USAID was shut down after it was discovered to have contributed to billions of wasteful programs overseas, including missions to promote LGBT causes and abortion access worldwide, among many other programs.
Some questionable purchases from the Pentagon included $6.1 million on lobster tails in September 2024, and $16.6 million on ribeye steaks and $6.4 million on salmon. Additionally, the Pentagon spent $5.1 million on Apple products, including 130 iPhone 16 Pro Maxes, which are considered luxury versions of the base iPhone 16 model.
The Pentagon also failed its seven consecutive audit in 2024, with the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025 requiring the DOD to pass an audit by 2028.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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